Harte puts Irish back on course

This is hardly how Ireland would have chosen to spend early June, in fog and incessant rain, but with their flight home postponed until this morning they at least had the satisfaction of a win over the Faroes last night. After the disappointment of a draw at home to Israel on Saturday Brian Kerr's team will go on holiday with their World Cup campaign stabilised.

Tougher tests will have to be negotiated at home to France and Switzerland but Ireland can be satisfied with their second-half display. After a laboured first 45 minutes in which they failed to impress up front or at the back they improved and two goals in 10 minutes secured an important victory.

Kevin Kilbane's deflected strike came after Ian Harte scored from a penalty won by Sunderland's Stephen Elliott, who had a promising second half and almost added a third goal. Ireland never convinced defensively and Shay Given had to keep out a shot at 2-0 but a workmanlike performance sufficed.

The result, not style, mattered and Ireland go top of Group Four, albeit having played a game more than second-place Switzerland. Their fate remains in their own hands with those two big home games and a trip to Cyprus to come.

The conditions and a defensive Faroes made this a test and about half the 700 Ireland fans who bought tickets never made it to the Faroese capital because fog prevented planes from landing. The fog obscured some of the houses and hills surrounding this 6,000-seat stadium, which the locals could be forgiven for not filling, but there was no missing Kerr's mood. "I'm satisfied we won," he said. "It's difficult here. France scraped through 2-0, the Swiss were drawing late in the game and eventually won. It was a decent job done."

It had been brave of Kerr to give Elliott his first competitive game in the absence of Robbie Keane but the 21-year-old justified that faith, having played only two friendlies. His first half mirrored the team's in being unimpressive and he wasted a fine chance in the 40th minute but after the interval he caught the eye with his work-rate and clever runs.

"He played well in training and looked sharp, which he hadn't done last week," Kerr said. "I felt with the opposition we were playing there would be more chance for him to show what he can do. He did nice things tonight."

Ireland's biggest guns were muted, with Damien Duff having little impact from his favourite position on the left and Roy Keane unable to dominate the match and picking up a booking, but for the first time in three qualifiers Ireland held on to a lead.

The first half was not promising. After Clinton Morrison had an early effort ruled out for offside Ireland struggled to break down the Faroes for a long period. Two weak free-kicks by Harte were rare efforts at goal until Elliott's miss. Andy Reid's shot was parried and the striker should have done better than hit the bar.

Anyone who had expected Given to take on the role of a spectator was wrong. A Hedin Lakjuni shot skidded just wide and the goalkeeper had other business to attend to as Ireland's defence looked worryingly vulnerable.

Ireland improved going forward at the end of the first half and continued that momentum after the interval, showing greater thrust and determination and better movement. Elliott latched on to a long pass by John O'Shea, who used the ball decently from centre-back, and was brought down by the Faroes goalkeeper Jakup Mikkelsen. Harte dispatched the penalty - his first for his country since missing in the World Cup against Spain - for his second goal in two games since returning to the squad.

That lifted Ireland and they began to play more fluently and soon extended their lead. Poor defending allowed Kilbane to shoot from about 20 yards and the ball deflected in off Oli Johannesen to leave the visiting fans singing in the rain and Ireland on top.